{Note. This article originally appeared in the magazine Toronto Symphony News, January, 1978. It should be of good interest to all bassoonists and particularly to the many of us who greet Maxine Woods at the Annual Meetings of IDRS and find in her a warm friend and a most enthusiastic supporter of all the aims of IDRS)
Maxine Woods always thought the bassoon a rather unladylike instrument. When, at fourteen, her father and uncle conspired to have her try it, she was "hooked" from the first note!
Little did she realize then that, in a few years, she would not only be a member of The Toronto Symphony, but also its first lady wind player.
Maxine came from a very musical family. Her great-grandfather, Frank Johnstone, was the organist at Edinburgh Cathedral in Scotland. In the late 19th century, he immigrated to Canada, arriving in Toronto for the very first CNE, holding a musical post there for many years.
Her father, Oliver Woods, was an oboist, who had been in John Phillip Sousa's Band and her mother, a concert pianist and cellist. A sister played clarinet, and two of her uncles were bassoonists, so music was in her blood.
The Canadian Double Reed Sextette around 1933. L. to R.: Oliver Woods, Oboe; Wilfred Greenwood, English horn; Robert Higginson, Heckelphone; Maxine Woods and Frank Dennis, Bassoons and James Milne, Contrabassoon.
After the successful conspiracy, Maxine commenced studies at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, during which time she received a gold medal for bassoon, in an open competition for Canada, sponsored by Waterloo Music Co.
In 1934 she was off to New York City, where she attended the Juilliard School of Music, the Neighbourhood Music School (later the Manhattan School of Music) and Columbia University, holding concurrent scholarships at each! For the next three years she was very busy indeed, attending classes and ensemble rehearsals at three different schools. Most people have difficulty juggling the chaotic schedules, so much a part of any music school, at one, let alone three schools!
A woodwind quintet coached by Oliver Woods. Mary Robb, Horn; Yvonne Woods, Clarinet, and Maxine Woods, Bassoon. The young oboist and flutist are brother and sister and were pupils of Oliver Woods.
She studied bassoon at Juilliard with Simon Kovar and August Mesnard and at the Manhattan School with Mr. Kovar.
Her rehearsal schedule included the Juilliard Symphony Orchestra and Opera Company, both conducted by Albert Stoessel; the Juilliard Woodwind Quintet, the Manhattan School Symphony Orchestra, and the Columbia University Band and Orchestra, directed by Harwood Simmons.
Her professional career began when she joined The Toronto Symphony in 1934, as the first lady wind player -- quite an accomplishment in those days, when women musicians were not taken seriously. A few years later, Mary Robb Barrow, a horn player, became the second "lady in the winds."
She was also a member of an unusual chamber ensemble, which performed at various social functions around Toronto, using a collection of arrangements made for the group by its members.
The Canadian Double Reed Sextette featured most of the instruments in the modern double reed family. The players were: Oliver Woods, oboe; Wilfred Greenwood, English horn; Robert T. Higginson, Heckelphone, Maxine Woods and Frank Dennis, bassoon; and James Milne, contrabassoon.
Mr. Woods, it seems, disliked the name Heckelphone -- the bass oboe developed by Heckel, the famous German wind instrument maker -- and so rechristened it the "Bombazet."
On March 26, 1935, she appeared as soloist with The Toronto Symphony at Massey Hall, in a children's concert conducted by Sir Ernest Macmillan, playing the second movement of the Mozart Bassoon Concerto K. 191.
She also appeared with the Promenade Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Reginald Stewart, in a pops concert, this time playing the Première Solo by Eugene Bourdeau. As none was available, Maxine made her own orchestration!
This same work, as well as the second movement of the Mozart, she performed with the Columbia University Band. Again, Maxine provided the musical arrangements.
So, at this early stage in her career, she was not only an accomplished performer, but also a very competent arranger.
In New York, she was a member of the National Orchestra Association, the New York Grand Opera (on tour), and the New York Women's Symphony, conducted by the sensational Antonio Brico. Miss Brico had been gaining much notoriety at this time, by conducting many of the world's great orchestras, including the Berlin Philharmonic.
More recently, Mrs. Shimer has been an active and highly successful teacher. Collectively, she has taught a total of 30 years, in Canada and the United States.
For twenty years, she was an instructor at the Montclair State College. For twenty three years she has taught at the Westfield Studio, as a bassoon and piano instructor for the Trinity College of Music, London, England, which administers a world-wide programme of music training and examinations.
As the local representative, she is responsible for coordinating the college programme in her area, and organizing the annual examinations.
In 1963, as a tribute to her teaching accomplishments over the years, grateful students established the Maxine L. Shimer Scholarship at Montclair State College. This past year, six scholarships were awarded in New York, and another enabled a promising young student to study in London at Trinity College.
Thriving on activity, Mrs. Shimer continues to maintain her hectic lifestyle. Besides her teaching, she coaches ensembles, attends conventions, and last summer, when in London, even spent some time studying at Trinity College herself!
Her musical career has spanned many years, covered many facets of endeavour, and watched many eras come and go.
The Toronto of her day was an exciting and stimulating place, an era that laid the foundations for The Toronto Symphony of today, and this city's varied musical life.
Maxine L. Shimer was an important part of that era, and now, as then, she is a constant source of inspiration to all she meets.